We the People - by Julie Maio Kemper (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Inspired by a 2026 exhibition, We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth, on display at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, this book examines the experiences of immigrants to Virginia from the founding of the nation to today.

With a combination of historical essays by Daniel Morales, Maria Carrillo, Katrina Powell, Noah Tinsley, and Saltanat Liebert and Grant Rissler, examinations of immigrant communities, and personal stories, this publication is the first to look at the history of immigration across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The chapters explore the themes of shared experiences, building community, strengthening the Commonwealth, unique journeys, and reshaping identity. Bound to historical accuracy and inquiry, this book is an approachable experience for all.

About the Author

Julie Maio Kemper is exhibits curator, Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

Dr. Reynaldo (Ren) Caasi Capucao has recently earned his PhD at the Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry in the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia. His dissertation examines the transnational history of Filipino nurses through the critical lens of (dis)ability. This work follows years of historical research and writing on the topic of Filipano nurses.

Maria Carrillo has more than 25 years of experience as a journalist in Virginia as the managing editor at The Virginian-Pilot from 1988-2014 and a reporter at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, VA. More recently she worked in Houston and Tampa Bay. She has a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University. She was born in Washington, D.C., two years after her parents left Cuba in exile and grew up in Northern Virginia.

Michael Hemphill has a M.A. in Creative Writing and 12 years of newspaper writing experience for The Roanoke Times, Southern Living magazine, Virginia Business magazine and The Oxford American. He has taught journalism and nonfiction writing at Hollins University. Named to Virginia Business magazine's "100 People to Meet in 2024," Michael Hemphill launched the Emmy Award-nominated BUZZ, a public television broadcast featuring nonprofit organizations.

Saltanat Liebert is associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, with expertise in immigration policy, Civil service reform, and Comparative public administration. Prior to that she taught at American University in Washington, D.C., and worked for the World Bank, United Nations and the International Organization for Migration in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Austria and the USA.

Daniel Morales is assistant professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University specializing in public history, Latinx history, immigration, and United States history. He grew up in Azusa California; his family is from Mexico. He was previously an assistant professor at James Madison University and a post-doctoral scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Kim O'Connell is a scholar of Vietnamese immigration to Virginia, and a lecturer at Johns Hopkins. As the daughter of a Vietnamese mother and an American father, she knows the Vietnamese community well and authored a book, Echoes of Little Saigon.

Katrina Powell is founding director of the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies, a professor of rhetoric and writing in the Department of English at Virginia Tech. She teaches courses in Rhetorics of Social Justice, Feminist Autobiography, and Research Methodologies. Powell's research focuses on displacement narratives.

Grant Rissler is assistant professor of Organizational Studies at the University of Richmond. His social equity-focused research explores the role of state and local governments, as well as non-profit partners, in the integration of recent immigrants into their new communities.

Noah Tinsley is assistant curator, Virginia Museum of History & Culture.